Tag Archives: garages

The Female Friendly Code for UK garages

Garages that have signed FOXY’s Female Friendly Code can be relied on to provide

  • Experienced and qualified staff to repair your car and inform you about important safety matters
  • Fixed price menu and/or written quote prior to all work
  • Local car collection, delivery or courtesy car service, subject to availability
  • Jargon free explanation of all work
  • No hidden or unnecessary costs and to consult before additional charges are incurred
  • A warm welcome
  • A drink offered whilst waiting
  • A comfortable waiting area
  • Clean washroom facilities
  • Current female magazines
  • Children welcome

In addition they have signed the female friendly FOXY Promise to ‘never overcharge, patronise or sell women services they don’t need or want.’

Whilst this is the definition of a female friendly UK garage the reality is that this is often the best service formula for men too.

So why settle for second best?

FOXY

FOXY Choice
35 Goring Road | STEYNING | BN44 3GF
t: 01903 879988 (if ansafone, please leave message or use email)
e: fcsales@foxychoice.com
blog: www.foxyladydrivers.com/foxyblog
http://twitter.com/foxytweets

Sister business of awardwinning FOXY Lady Drivers Club
www.foxyladydrivers.com
Highly Commended, Brake’s Road Safety in the Community Award, 2009
Winner, Home Business Awards, 2008
Regional Finalist, HSBC Start-Up Stars Awards, 2007
Runner Up, The Daily Telegraph’s Trailblazers’ Business Awards, 2006
Small Business Award Winner, SAGA Magazine, 2005

Female friendly garages reach new female customers

Genuinely female friendly good garages who are worried about losing business might do well to consider marketing themselves as female friendly to attract new women customers in today’s recession-like times.

FOXY Code for garages

As the gaps between car servicing periods lengthen (and appeal to new car buyers of course) the downside is that fewer car services are bought so garages need to find more customers to make up this business shortfall.

In fact the value of the retail car service and repair market has fallen by 21 percent since 1999. perhaps this has something to do with franchise dealerships increasing their labour rates by 36 percent (over the Retail Price Index) and independent garages by 15 percent.

This, says the latest report by business monitoring service Trend Tracker, is to compensate for inflation and a fall in work coming in. What an odd strategy to attract more business in such a competitive industry? And now that they all are having to add special offers and discounts in recessionary times…

Apparently the number of car services and repairs carried out in the garage sector has fallen 17 percent in 10 years (including a recession) from 55.9 million to 46.6 million. Yet the number of cars on our roads has risen? Trend Tracker says this is because motorists are buying fewer ‘transactions’ ie down from an average of 2.04 transactions in 1999 to 1.50 in 2009.

Clearly there is no room for complacency and all garages must look for new business opportunities, hence the suggestion that they look at the new female friendly garage website and marketing services package – FOXY Choice.

Trend Tracker’s Chris Oakham says

‘These declining trends in service and repair demand will squeeze providers to the point where we forecasts there will be 44 percent fewer service/repair outlets by 2015 than there were in 1999.’

Already, there are a third fewer garages today than there were in 1999. Trend Tracker reckons it will continue. Franchises are going to be particularly affected in a fall in the number of cars up to 4 years old.

Because of weakening new car sales since the peak years of 2003/2004, and especially as a result of the recession, the number of cars less than 4 years old will fall by 25 percent by 2012 compared to its peak in 2004/2005.’

The solution may be for the best garages and dealerships to subscribe to FOXY Choice’s female friendly marketing services and to start promoting their quality services to women. It’s the women that are increasingly wealthy, who are doing their shopping homework online and who can influence family and friends after all. Women are demanding shoppers who expect quality workmanship, value for money, relevant services to save them time and money, ethical behaviour and clean/comfortable premises.

Not too much to ask surely?

FOXY

Find out about FOXY Choice’s female friendly UK garage network and marketing services here.

Garages that pay commission are rarely female friendly

Whilst it’s easy for UK garages to claim to be good and/or female friendly without having to prove it, surely there should be some substance behind these claims as well as a means to monitor the situation if things go wrong.

No matter her age, most females today are shrewd, canny and astute when it comes to shopping – which is what the brand FOXY is all about of course. They are looking for evidence of quality, value for money (not necessarily the cheapest price), ethical behaviour and female friendliness.

And whilst you might think that all businesses should be able to sign the female friendly FOXY Promise, sadly many national garage groups can’t because they pay their staff commission as part of their income. This means that the likes of the big garage names we see on TV can’t promise that their staff won’t sell us tyres we don’t need, for example, simply to top up their wage. Whereas if they were earning a decent flat rate salary, they’d be operating to female friendly FOXY Promise standards like you’d expect them to be doing.

So, when it’s to do with national or regional garage chains, selling tyres and fastfit services in particular, you need to have your wits about you and to take a second opinion if you think you might be being ripped off here.

But at least you can choose a FOXY Choice listed female friendly garage because it will have signed the FOXY Promise to ‘never knowingly overcharge, patronise or sell customers anything they don’t need or want’. And if any listed garage doesn’t get this right, you can tell FOXY Choice and we’ll help you sort it out.

Ultimately we reserve the right to expel any garage subscriber that clearly isn’t good enough AND we’ll help spread the word to members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club.

Keep us posted please.

FOXY